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A Tapping at My Door, David Jackson

Great opening.  Woman alone in a remote house hears tapping on her door.  We then go inside her mind as she moves from fear to mental strength to practical action and back and forth.  Movies (The Omen, Little Shop of Horrors, The Birds) come to her mind.  Finally she sees a bird (crow, maybe) pecking at kitchen window.  She goes outside--no more (admitting to) fear.  It's a murder mystery, so courage doesn't pay.

creepy details:  Murderer slits her windpipe so she has the sense she is screaming but there is no sound.

too much:  Murderer hammers her three times and slits her throat, but she doesn't pass out or die.  She stays alive so we can have more violence.

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